As Arvind Kejriwal camps at Delhi LG`s house, BJP gives it back with dharna at CM`s office

Jun 13, 2018

New Delhi: Mimicking the protest the ruling dispensation members are holding at the Lt Governor’s office, BJP leaders on Wednesday sat on a dharna at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s office against the ‘non-performance’ of his government. Rebel Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator Kapil Mishra also joined them.

Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta and MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa said the sit-in will continue till their demands are met by the AAP government. “Until the CM assures to provide water to the people, we will continue our sit in,” Gupta said. The protest is against the “non-performance” of the Kejriwal government, he added.

Gupta further said that the BJP legislators had tried to raise the water shortage issue in the Assembly, but they were marshalled out. The CM does not come to his office, where would people go to raise their problems, he asked. Sirsa said the sit-in will continue until Delhi gets adequate water. BJP MLA Jagdish Pradhan was also present at the sit-in.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday joined Health Minister Satyendar Jain on the third day of his indefinite hunger strike at LG Anil Baijal’s office, where they have been camping for two nights. The AAP leaders, including Kejriwal, are demanding that Baijal direct IAS officers to end their “strike”. They also want him to approve the proposal for door-step delivery of rations.

Kejriwal tweeted from LG office on Wednesday morning, seeking to know whether it was “possible for IAS officers to return to work without green signal from Prime Minister’s Office (PMO)”. “Aren’t IAS officers merely tools being used by Modi government to scuttle good work being done by Delhi government?” he asked. In another tweet, Kejriwal said their struggle will continue to clear “hurdles” in Delhi’s development.

Central govt using IAS officers as a tool to provoke rebellion against an elected govt https://t.co/TVNxbskEFD

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) June 13, 2018

According to the AAP government, officers have not been attending meetings with the ministers and not picking up their calls due to which work for people was suffering. Officers have gone on a “partial strike” since the alleged assault on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash on the intervening night of February 19-20, it said.

AAP also said that an “emergency-like” situation prevailed in the national capital and sought President Ram Nath Kovind’s intervention. Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said that he had asked for an appointment with the President alongwith party lawmakers and legislators from Delhi and Punjab.

“It’s an emergency-like situation in Delhi. The entire work of the Delhi government is crippled due to strike by IAS officers for past four months,” Singh said, adding that the LG was working at the “behest” of the Modi government.